This year, the ISC will offer two-day pre-tour at 9th and 10th of October as a choice of option with the great opportunity to visit sawmills with local capital and Group sawmill enterprises with international approach, and we would like to stress out forest resource topic by opportunity to visit corporate and governmental Nurseries.

As per tradition, the conference will be anticipated by a cocktail reception in the early evening on the 10th October at The Riga Latvian Society house, then conference will officially start at 9 o’clock the following morning at headquarters hotel – Radisson Blu Latvija. And after a full day of work we will be able to enjoy marvellous Gala Dinner together with our partners and colleagues at Blackheads House.

The conference will provide market analysis from the perspective of top-class international speakers. The presentations will be focused on facts and figures showing softwood production as well as consumption in the most relevant timber markets such as USA, UK, Canada, North Africa and Egypt, Russia, France, Japan and China.

The event will include an insight view of Confederation of European forest owners on resources with participation of PEFC and FSC certification system representatives, what will be one of the most interesting points of panel discussion of this year’s ISC.

Wood for Good Marketing Summit - Spring 2018 | 13 March 2018 | London

On Tuesday 13th March 2018, Wood For Good will hold its Spring 2018 Marketing Summit at the MSE Meeting Rooms in London.

Based on a successful first event in 2017, this half-day workshop - to take place from 13.30 to 16.30 - will bring together Marketing and Communications professionals working in the timber industry.

Speaking at the event will be Chris Ashworth, founder of Competitive Advantage, a strategic sales and marketing consultancy exclusively for the building products and construction sector.

The Grenfell tower fire has shaken up the construction industry as a whole. The much awaited final report of the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety by Dame Hackitt is due to be published in April. This review will have consequences for the way we advertise and promote building products.

The event will feature an in-depth discussions around how to assess and prepare for the potential impact of the Hackitt review on promoting timber products in the near future.

Main topics to be debated include:

Assess the potential impact of the Hackitt report on marketing timber products

Hear from experts in issues management and communication, and find out how others prepare for the likely outcomes of the Hackitt report

Discuss your concerns and perspectives with peers and develop new insight

Find out more about Wood for Good and what our current plans are

The event is free to attend for Wood for Good supporters. Discounts are available for BWF and TTF member companies.

The confederation has organised a general meeting at the Manchester Marriott hotel on March 14th to discuss the topic in details.

The aim of the event is to help TIMCON's members, particularly manufacturers, understand and discuss a response to the latest developments in this area.

The meeting will include updates on UK timber supply, the state of the UK pallet and packaging market and global timber flows from a panel which includes Andrew Heald, technical director of CONFOR on UK timber supply; global timber flows by Hikki Vidgren of Pőyry Consulting; and Guy Watt of John Clegg Consulting; and an open forum discussion for members.

Stuart Hex, TIMCON general secretary, said: “We have monitored the escalating demand and supply issues for many months and our industry now faces a perfect storm of reduced inputs and higher prices for manufacturers and our customers. “It is crucial that our industry stays well organised and that we communicate with one another and with our customers to mitigate the effects of this situation."

"The meeting on Manchester on March 14th will be an essential part of this process. “In the meantime, it’s important not to lose sight of the fact that timber still remains the most economical choice of raw material for manufacturing pallets and packaging. It is also the most environmentally friendly: it is reusable, repairable and recyclable and is a vital part of the circular economy."

This free event focuses on the most significant timber and glulam projects carried out to date worldwide also interviewing engineers, architects and designers.

The exhibition showcases examples of completed projects which sit alongside more ambitious concept and research proposals, higlighting what is possible today and what may be possible in the future – with changing building codes and new thinking by developers, governments and the construction industry – for the cities of tomorrow.

"A timber revolution is in the air," explain the organisers Studio Woode and Clare Farrow. "In the last decade, a new phenomenon has occurred in architectural practice: the beginning of vertical building in wood. A number of architects working closely with world-class scientists and engineers, are experimenting with new engineered timber products including CLT (cross-laminated timber), predicting a future in which wood will potentially supersede concrete and steel in an effort to confront some of the most pressing issues of our time: high density cities, climate change, the housing crisis, and mental health."

"High-rise (and mid-rise) mass timber structures combine lightness, speed and strength, with sustainability, humanity and wellbeing. Research is showing that the use of these engineered products, which still preserve the beauty, scent and warmth of wood, can benefit our own health as well as the environment, though the timber must be sourced from responsibly managed forests. Significantly lighter than concrete and steel, and using far less energy in the construction process, mass timber absorbs and sequesters CO2 in a remarkable way."

"For the first time, this exhibition puts these timber developments (which are still evolving) into historical context and examines this new phenomenon in architecture, addressing issues of safety and urban health as well as the intimate human connection to wood including concepts such as Biophilia."

A private view of the exhibition will be held on Thursday 8 February from 18.30 to 20.30. To attend the event, register at http://bit.ly/2E6wAIO

The Trade Consultations will be a chance for timber businesses and other industry stakeholders, such as specifiers, manufacturers and retailers, to hear latest findings from the IMM’s market survey work and monitoring of EU trade flows from FLEGT VPA-engaged supplier countries.

They are also opportunities for delegates to discuss key issues and share their views on the FLEGT initiative with the European Commission and Government of Indonesia, the first country to start FLEGT licensing its timber exports to the EU, granting them exemption from the anti-illegality EU Timber Regulation.

The UK event starts with a tour of 'Timber Transformer', an exhibition at the Building Centre explaining the process behind the EU FLEGT Action Plan in Indonesia and showcasing its FLEGT-licensed products. Organised by the Timber Trade Federation (TTF) with the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry, this runs from 5 February to 31 March.

Following this will be presentations on Indonesia-EU trade since the start of FLEGT licensing, EU tropical timber market trends, and the results of the IMM’s 2017 EU trade surveys. Delegates will also hear preliminary findings from its EU furniture sector study, and a presentation on Indonesia’s PHPL sustainable forest management standard and its role in the country’s VPA.

FLEGT-licensed timber in public procurement. Here the focus will be on UK government acceptance of FLEGT licensed goods under its timber procurement policy and the market impacts and what prevents some other EU countries from recognising licensing under their TPPs.

IMM is an EU-funded programme implemented by the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO). Its role is to monitor trade flows from the 15 FLEGT VPA-engaged tropical supplier countries to the EU, including, of course, from Indonesia. It also studies trade impacts of FLEGT-licensed timber in the EU and gauges timber sector views and understanding of the FLEGT VPA initiative.